Material separation of several different types of materials is, of course, well known in the art of materials handling. The same is true for separation of materials having openings, slots, etc. therein. One example that comes readily to mind is gasket material for such products as manufacturing equipment, automobiles, etc. As will be defined herein, the present invention is particularly directed (but not limited) to the separation of segmented materials for eventual use in electronic products such as electronic packages, several types of which are known in the electronic field. Examples are shown and described in the following U.S. patents:                U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,451—Kan et al        U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,079—Johnson        U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,900—Johnson et al        
An electronic package sold by the assignee of this invention is of particular interest. It is sold under the name HyperBGA®, the “BGA” standing for ball (e.g., solder) grid array meaning a pattern of solder balls are used to bond the package to a selected underlying substrate, typically a laminate PCB. (HyperBGA is a registered trademark of Endicott Interconnect Technologies, Inc., the assignee of the present invention.) This particular package also utilizes a pattern of solder balls to couple the package's chip to its own substrate body, thus affording a more dense package than wirebond or the like packages also on the market. Significantly, the HyperBGA® package also preferably includes what is referred to as a “stiffener” to add rigidity to the final structure by bonding the package's substrate (a laminate) to a heat sink spacedly positioned above the substrate for cooling of the chip during package operation. Further description of this particular electronic package will be provided hereinbelow.
Although the invention defined herein is not meant to be limited for use with electronic packages such as described above, it is particularly useful in such applications, especially to bond one or more elements of the aforementioned HyperBGA® package to form the rigidized structure needed. The segmented material product separated in accordance with the unique teachings herein can be formed in a new and unique manner resulting in significant cost savings to the ultimate package consumer.
It is believed that a method for forming a segmented material offering the advantageous features taught herein, especially in the electronic packaging field, would constitute a significant advancement in the art.